NASA's Mars Pathfinder spacecraft -- a novel mission to send an inexpensive lander and roving prospector to the surface of Mars -- has concluded its primary mission, fulfilling all of its objectives and returning a wealth of new information about the red planet.
The robotic lander, which continues to explore an ancient outflow channel in Mars' northern hemi-sphere, completed its milestone 30-day mission August 3, 1997, capturing far more data on the atmos-phere, weather and geology of Mars than scientists expected. In all, Pathfinder returned 1.2 gigabits (1.2 billion bits) of data and 9,669 tantalizing pictures of the Martian landscape.
"The data returned by the Sagan Memorial Station and Sojourner has been nothing short of spectacular, and it will help provide a scientific basis for future Mars missions, including a sample return, for years to NASA's Mars Pathfinder spacecraft -- a novel mission to send an inexpensive lander and roving prospector to the surface of Mars -- has concluded its primary mission, fulfilling all of its objectives and returning a wealth of new information about the red planet.
The robotic lander, which continues to explore an ancient outflow channel in Mars' northern hemi-sphere, completed its milestone 30-day mission August 3, 1997, capturing far more data on the atmos-phere, weather and geology of Mars than scientists expected. In all, Pathfinder returned 1.2 gigabits (1.2 billion bits) of data and 9,669 tantalizing pictures of the Martian landscape.
"The data returned by the Sagan Memorial Station and Sojourner has been nothing short of spectacular, and it will help provide a scientific basis for future Mars missions, including a sample return, for years to entering the Martian atmosphere. Assisted by an 11- meter (36-foot) diameter parachute, the spacecraft descended to the surface of Mars and landed, using airbags to cushion the impact.
This novel method of diving into the Martian atmosphere worked like a charm. "Every event during the entry, descent and landing (EDL) went almost perfectly," said Richard Cook, Pathfinder mission manager. "The sequences were executed right on time and well within our margins."
Pathfinder landed right on the money, within 20 kilometers (13 miles) of the targeted landing site. The landing site coordinates in Ares Vallis were later iden-tified as 19.33 degrees north latitude, 33.55 degrees west longitude.
The spacecraft's terminal velocity as it parachuted to the ground was higher than expected, said Rob Manning, Pathfinder flight system chief engineer. "Interestingly, we estimated our descent on the parachute at about 60 meters per second (134 miles per hour). Software controlling the retro rockets recorded Pathfinder's speed at about 61.5 meters per second (140 miles per hour) at the time the RAD (rocket-assisted deceleration) rockets fired."
Pathfinder's performance in the Martian atmosphere will be of great value to Mars Global Surveyor, which will aerobrake through the Martian atmosphere to circularize its orbit when it reaches Mars on Sept. 11. The Pathfinder navigation team, led by Pieter Kallemyn of JPL, estimated horizontal wind velocities in the upper atmosphere, which accelerated the spacecraft's descent velocity by about 13 meters per second (20 to 25 miles per hour).
After being suspended from a 20-meter (65-foot) bridle and firing its retro rockets, a 5.8-meter (19- foot) diameter cluster of airbags softened Pathfinder's landing, marking the first time this airbag technique has been used. The spacecraft hit the ground at a speed of about 18 meters per second (40 miles per hour) and bounced about 16 times across the landscape before coming to a halt. The airbag seems to have performed perfectly and sustained little or no damage. To top it off, the spacecraft even landed on its base petal, consequently allowing its thumb-sized antenna to communicate the successful landing to a jubilant team on Earth only three minutes after touch down.
Science data from the surface of Mars will continue to be collected and transmitted to Earth, then analyzed by scientists, as Pathfinder enters its extended mission. The lander was placed in a two-day hybernation period to recharge its battery after the conclusion of the primary mission, and the flight team will begin to power the lander battery off each Martian night now to conserve energy. The rover's batteries remain in good condition, but are not rechargeable. The Mars Pathfinder mission is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. 8-97 DEA
